What’s the first thing you think about when you picture an engagement?

The ring. Of course there’s the future bride and groom, the tears and the happiness and the man on one knee but the center of every engagement is that ring — the ring that is a gift and commitment of a lifetime. That ring is everything.

Back in the day, it was tradition for the man proposing to spend three months of his salary on this gorgeous diamond and while I’m sure that happens all of the time still today, there are so many great alternatives where couples can actually save in the money department without skimping out on all of the beauty that thatgorgeous engagement ringhas to bring.

Have you ever heard of lab-grown diamonds?

Clean Origin is a 3rd generation jeweler that creates just that — lab-grown diamonds. The only thing that makes a lab-created diamond different from a mined diamoned is its origin. A lab-created diamond is “grown” inside a lab using cutting-edge technology that replicates the natural diamond growing process and as a result, the diamond is chemically, physically and optically the same as those grown beneath the Earth’s surface.

And what does that mean for you?

A gorgeous ethical diamond without breaking the bank. Yep, you heard that right.

Clean Origin has a 100-day money back guarantee on all products and they’ve got no brick and mortar — it’s all online, just the way we all love to shop these days. They’ve got 24/7 phone and email support, sell diamonds alone or in a setting, offer wedding bands, wedding sets, earring studs and hoops and bracelets. With over 100 ring styles available, free shipping, free resizing and a lifetime manufacturer’s warranty, you just can’t go wrong here.

So even if you’ve already proposed or already said, “YES!”, don’t forget that you’ve got the wedding day (hint hint: wedding bands) and anniversaries (hint hint: jewelry) down the road!

The Benefits of Lab-Grown Diamonds:

Of course, that price tag is one of the big benefits as lab-create diamonds mean you can get a diamond that’s 20-30% larger for the exact same price (aka, they cost about 20-30% less than mined diamonds). The reason is because mined diamonds have a long supply chain so by cutting out the miners, lab created diamonds touch fewer hands, making them less expensive, not cheap! An ethical, inexpensive engagement ring? Yes please!

And in addition to that, they’re ethical diamonds.

The mined diamond industry has come under fire for exploiting miners and families through forced labor, funding violent rebel movements in countries throughout Africa and for having a negative effect on our environment whereas lab-created diamonds are environmentally friendly diamonds because they take considerably less energy.

So let me ask you this — Where are you going to shop for your next ethical engagement ring or anniversary jewelry,